Alpena size too much for Cheboygan, Chiefs lose 83-56

Cheboygan started off the contest well, with senior guard Andrew Dixon drilling a 3-pointer to make it a 14-12 Alpena advantage. The Wildcats, however, executed a 9-2 run which ran into the second quarter to build a 23-14 lead. Leading 28-19, the Wildcats ended the half on a 15-1 run to take a 46-20 lead into halftime. For the quarter, the Chiefs were outscored, 28-8.

For the Cheboygan boys' basketball team, that did not bode well against a tall and talented Alpena squad, led by Luke Cordes.

Cordes, a 6-foot-8 senior center, scored a game-high 31 points as the Wildcats cruised to an 83-58 victory over the Chiefs in Cheboygan on Tuesday.

"Their size really got to us," Cheboygan coach Kevin Baller said. "I thought we did a good job (in the first half) of not giving up second chance opportunities, but once the second half rolled around, their size started to hurt us. They're a big team, they're well coached, and it really showed tonight."

Cheboygan started off the contest well, with senior guard Andrew Dixon drilling a 3-pointer to make it a 14-12 Alpena advantage. The Wildcats, however, executed a 9-2 run which ran into the second quarter to build a 23-14 lead. Leading 28-19, the Wildcats ended the half on a 15-1 run to take a 46-20 lead into halftime. For the quarter, the Chiefs were outscored, 28-8.

"Alpena's got some very talented kids, especially their bigger kids," Baller said of the Wildcats. "They were able to go on a little run there at the first of the first half, which hurt us."

Cordes was the big weapon for the Wildcats' front court, which scored a plethora of points in the paint. Also hurting the Chiefs inside was 6-foot-4 junior Andrew Marwede (19 points) and 6-foot-5 senior Kameron Fitzik (11 points).

"We have a good size advantage, so that helps. We also have big guys who are very skilled," Alpena coach John Pintar said. "They can step out and knock down shots, and I think you saw a couple of our guys were able to hit three's and go inside. I thought our guards did a good job of getting to the middle and getting the ball to those guys in those scoring positions. We have some good, skilled kids. Our big kids are not your traditional big kids, they can play the perimeter, they can move around, and that makes them a little tougher to defend, so we were able to score some points that way tonight."

Baller also credited the effort of Cordes, who will play college basketball at Michigan Tech University next season.

"He's a very good player," Baller said. "We had a hard time all night with him in the post, and we were unable to pick up rebounds, so he was really collecting those rebounds and scoring. He's a tremendous player and there's a reason why he's going to Michigan Tech."

With their win, Alpena improved to 10-4, while the Chiefs dropped to 7-7.

Page 2 of 2 - To be 10-4 at this point in the season, Pinter likes where his team is at.

"I'm happy with our team," he said. "In the league (Big North) we've lost a couple games to Traverse City West, we lost two one-possession games to them, so that was tough. Cadillac and Petoskey, those three teams are all in first in our league, they're tied. We're just back of them, so we got Cadillac coming up on Thursday at home and Petoskey next Friday at home, so we really want to get those. I don't think we have a shot at the league, but we still like to have a say in who's going to win it."